One Of The Best Things About Being Organized
One of the best things about being organized is being ready to do things spontaneously. You may not think of organized people as spontaneous, but to me, that’s kind of the whole point.
One of the best things about being organized is being ready to do things spontaneously. You may not think of organized people as spontaneous, but to me, that’s kind of the whole point.
A guest post by Stephanie Hyde from Monkey Bars Garage Storage System To many people organizing seems like a daunting task that they’ll never get around to. If this is you, here’s a little push, simple steps like adding cabinets, shelving, overhead storage, and floor coatings can affect your home price by as much as 14 percent! (According to a Florida State University Study) Not only does this makeover give your wallet a boost, but it also helps increase the space in your home as well.
The opposite of out of sight, out of mind is in sight and in mind, but that’s often seen as a bad thing for organizing. If all your floors and surfaces are covered in clutter, it’s overwhelming and stressful, but the exact opposite is not a good thing either. Good organizing is about striking the right balance between what is hidden and what is seen.
It’s pretty easy to run out and buy some shelves and bins for storage in the garage, but so many of the items in the garage are what I would classify as “awkwards.” Your beautifully shelved bins can be sabotaged by items like fishing poles, bicycles, and garden tools. To take charge of your garage storage, accommodate these awkwards before you shelve the items that play nicely with others. Here’s how.
To get organized effectively, the focus should not be on getting rid of stuff, but on what's being kept. Really. That focus needs to be on what you are keeping, why you are keeping, how much you are keeping, and where is all going to be kept?
Your to-do list isn’t working for you because you are trying to reduce 3 steps to just one. To get your to-do’s to done, requires three essential action steps:
If it feels like you’ve tried every organizing product and nothing seems to work, don’t blame yourself. Most organizing products are inherently flawed. Why? Disregard of context.
The Car Seat Cooler is made by the Talus Corporation, based in Portland, Maine. In full disclosure, both my Vice President, Ben Soreff and I are sons of the great state of Maine, so it’s hard not to be biased for a Maine business like Talus, but we will try.
The More You Keep, The More You Lose I am baffled by folks who are baffled by why they are always losing things. Some of [...]
The Grid-It! by Cocoon is one of those organizing products that folks get excited about on sight. "Ooh, what's that?" It really is like nothing else. It's essentially a board, of various sizes, with elastic straps, cris-crossing it, in various configurations. It’s useful for holding and organizing all sorts of things, but here are my favorite uses.
One of the things I say a lot is limitations breed freedom. I've written several posts that demonstrate the value of this paradox , but here's an example you might not expect: The White Stripes.
Look, I don't pretend that getting organized is the hardest thing in the world. It ain't rocket surgery. But if you're not good at organizing, going the DIY route can be a bit like cutting your own hair. Yes, you CAN do it, but don't be surprised if you don't like the results.
Last week a woman was giving me a tour of all the organizing challenges in her home and when we came to a closet upstairs, I asked her, “can I see what’s in here?” She said “Oh, I don’t want to show you that. It’s a DISASTER!” After explaining to her that I was in the disaster business, she let me have a look.
One of the questions I get asked most frequently, before starting an organizing project is “What should I buy?” I have a very simple answer: nothing. This is especially true for the big projects we tend to get this time of year, like garages, basements, attics. The reason comes down to this very simple organizing rule: "quantity dictates systems."
As I’ve so often stated, my central organizing philosophy is circulation prevents accumulation, but what exactly do I mean by this? Effective organizing solutions must be built on movement. There must be a reliable advancement from one manageable stage to the next. If this circulation is blocked by an unmanageable stage, the whole process starts to fall apart and an accumulation of clutter is inevitable.
The other day a friend asked, when is it OK NOT to be organized. I was stumped by the question, but I've been giving the matter a lot of thought, ever since.